Africa highlights: US condemns 'corrupt' DR Congo, ivory price crashes in China

South Africans are sharing an image of the elaborate tombstone for the grave of actor Joe Mafela, who died earlier this month and was buried today.

He was a popular figure on some of the country’s favourite television sitcoms since the 1980s, hence the stone couch, table and plasma TV.

The Sowetan Live reports that there is a QR code that can be scanned so visitors can get clips and photogrpahjs showing the Mafela at work.

The veteran actor, who was in his 70s when he died, was killed in a traffic accident.

South Africa's rand has had another volatile day in trading against the US dollar, eventually ending the day close to where it began.

The chart from xe.com  shows that the currency dipped initially, rallied after midday and then fell away again.

xe.comCopyright: xe.com

The fluctuations reflect sentiment about the future of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, seen as a safe pair of hands by many investors.

There's been speculation that he is about to be sacked. But if that's the case President Jacob Zuma appears to have hesitated.

The South African Mail and Guardian reports that the top brass of the governing ANC are split over Mr Zuma's intentions, and those opposed to the sacking said they would publicly come out against the president if he went ahead with the move.

Former Tunisian Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa has launched a new political party, which he says will be "non-ideological" and provide an alternative for voters frustrated by the country's political transition since  Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced from power in the Arab Spring.

Mr Jomaa's new party is called Albadil Ettounsi, which means the Tunisian Alternative. A number of technocrats and former ministers have joined him, including former central bank governor Mustafa Kamal Aabli and former economy minister Nidhal Ourefelli.

For the past two years, Tunisia has been governed by a coalition led by the secularist Nidaa Tounes party and Islamist Ennahda.

Quote Message: After two years since 2014, we passed from hope to frustration, a difficult situation, a lack of strategy, favoritism and corruption.

After two years since 2014, we passed from hope to frustration, a difficult situation, a lack of strategy, favoritism and corruption.

Quote Message: We want to restore hope for Tunisians through our alternative party."

We want to restore hope for Tunisians through our alternative party."

The party's first major electoral test is expected to come in local elections at the end of this year. 

One-hundred-and-forty-six people are believed to be missing after a boat carrying migrants was wrecked in the Mediterranean on Tuesday. 

One survivor, a young Gambian man, has been speaking to the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees about his ordeal. 

He says the boat started to take on water after it left Sabrata in Libya earlier in the week. 

The survivor was rescued by a Spanish military vessel taking part in Operation Sophia, the EU's anti-smuggling mission, and is in hospital on the Italian island of Lampedusa. 

The International Organization for Migration says almost 600 migrants have died or gone missing along the Libyan coast since the beginning of this year. 

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AFPCopyright: AFP

Cameroon's Africa Cup of Nations-winning coach Hugo Broos has threatened to quit over management and funding problems in the national team set-up.

Broos, who led the team  to the trophy in Gabon in February , said he was "seriously considering whether I should continue or not".

He also said his players and staff had to work in "poor conditions" while Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) officials "sit in their chairs doing nothing".

"I cannot accept this," he added.

Broos made his comments in a news conference after a 2-1 defeat by Guinea in a friendly in Belgium on Tuesday, revealing the extent of the problems he has faced since his appointment in February 2016.

Fecafoot says it is looking into the allegations.

Read more on this from BBC Sport.

#PastorGithumba is trending on social media in Kenya as people share news about the religious man who believes that his wife will come back from the dead.

He is spreading his message outside a funeral home in Embu, 130km (81 miles) north-east of the capital, Nairobi.

Some Kenyans on Twitter are not impressed:

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has delivered a stinging criticism of UN peacekeeping missions saying they can often lose their focus and become a never-ending presence in some countries.

In a speech at think tank the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), she had particularly harsh words for the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Monusco.

She said:

Quote Message: The government is corrupt and preys on its citizens. At the same time the UN peacekeeping mission is mandated to partner with the government to consolidate peace and security.

The government is corrupt and preys on its citizens. At the same time the UN peacekeeping mission is mandated to partner with the government to consolidate peace and security.

Quote Message: In other words, the UN is aiding a government that is inflicting predatory behaviour against its own people.

In other words, the UN is aiding a government that is inflicting predatory behaviour against its own people.

Quote Message: We should have the decency and common sense to end this."

We should have the decency and common sense to end this."

She also spoke about the difficulties of the UN mission in South Sudan where it is not working with the government. But she appeared to praise leaders in the Central African Republic for wanting to take on more responsibility.

Her comments come as the UN Security Council is considering a new mandate for Monusco. Earlier this week, Reuters news agency reported that the US was hoping to reduce the number of troops in the mission.

You can read the transcript or watch her remarks to the CFR here. She spoke about DR Congo at 11 minutes 48 seconds:

AFPCopyright: AFP

New Confederation of African Football president Ahmad has used the occasion of his first news conference to discuss a possible African World Cup bid. 

He did so in Morocco - a country that heavily backed him in the Caf elections earlier this month. 

It is also one of very few on the continent that could realistically stage a World Cup, especially after its expansion to 48 teams in 2026.  

Quote Message: We are already [discussing] how we can do it because we are convinced that Morocco will be able to organise this competition – just as South Africa did in 2010."

We are already [discussing] how we can do it because we are convinced that Morocco will be able to organise this competition – just as South Africa did in 2010."

Morocco has bid before to host the World Cup, but failed to land the 1994, 1998, 2006 or 2010 finals.

Kenya international Clifton Miheso has filed a complaint to Fifa over his claim he was forced at gunpoint to end his contract with Golden Arrows.

Miheso alleges  the incident  took place on 14 January at the South African club's offices in Durban.

The 24-year-old is seeking a transfer ban or other sanction to be placed on Golden Arrows and also wants $22,000 he claims he is owed in wages.

Golden Arrows denied the allegations and have since declined to comment.

The winger's legal representative says the club has failed to provide any satisfactory information about the incident.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Passengers on the first direct commercial flight linking the Somali and Kenyan capitals for a decade have been marking the occasion on Twitter:

It landed at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport this morning.

Somalia's ambassador to Kenya was on hand to join the celebrations:

The resumption of flights was agreed last week between Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo Mohamed.

The South African government, particularly President Jacob Zuma, came in for criticism at today's funeral service for anti-apartheid hero Ahmed Kathrada.

One key moment was when former President Kgalema Motlanthe read out an open letter Mr Kathrada, affectionately known as Kathy, had written, in which he called on Mr Zuma to resign.

His words were met by applause from the mourners ( see earlier entry ).

A South African TV station speculates on what might be happening in heaven now:

The price of ivory in China has dropped by almost two thirds in the last three years, as the Chinese government plans to ban the legal trade of ivory, conservation group Save The Elephants says.

Ivory processing factories in China are to be shut down by Friday, followed by the closing of retail outlets by the end of this year. 

Conservationists say the end of the legal ivory trade distinctly improves the survival chances for elephants.

A strong commitment from the Chinese government to close down the trade and crack down on corruption, coupled with an economic slowdown resulting in fewer purchases of luxury goods, have contributed to the price drop.  

Lucy Vigne, the lead researcher behind these latest findings, says the fall in prices will have a significant effect on the larger players in the illegal ivory trade.

She told the BBC:

Quote Message: These people will begin to think what’s the point of working in ivory as a commodity in illegal trade if the price is going to continue to fall, and if the hassle of law enforcement is going to be greater than the benefit."

These people will begin to think what’s the point of working in ivory as a commodity in illegal trade if the price is going to continue to fall, and if the hassle of law enforcement is going to be greater than the benefit."

AFPCopyright: AFP

AFPCopyright: AFP

African airlines are struggling to compete globally and often go bust because of high fuel prices and high taxation, Tewolde Gebremariam, chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines, has told the BBC.

Mr Gebremariam said aviation was a critical and essential public service in Africa and should be taken more seriously by governments.

He advocates African airlines putting their resources together as a way of protecting each other from going out of business.

He said:

Quote Message: We will not be able to face challenges if we work alone and independently. There must be a formula where we work together as African indigenous airlines to counter the competition coming from the rest of the world, because we are in a globalised world."

We will not be able to face challenges if we work alone and independently. There must be a formula where we work together as African indigenous airlines to counter the competition coming from the rest of the world, because we are in a globalised world."

Mr Gebremariam heads Africa's biggest and most successful carrier, which flies to more than 90 destinations worldwide. 

The success of Ethiopian Airlines prompted Nigeria's government to request Ethiopian help to re-establish its national carrier, Air Nigeria, which collapsed five years ago.

AFPCopyright: AFP

The request to South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma not to attend Ahmed Kathrada’s funeral suggests that family and friends of the anti-apartheid veteran want to distance themselves from the scandal-hit president.

Mr Zuma's allies - especially youth leader Collen Maine - launched a sustained attack on veterans like Mr Kathrada, after they raised concern about his leadership and the corruption in government.   

South Africa's former high commissioner to the UK, Cheryl Carolus, told me: "It's just a shame to imagine that in the last few years, even weeks and months, he [Mr Kathrada] was subjected to the most outrageous vitriol from kids who weren't even born when he went to jail - and that other elders in our ranks actually allowed that."

So the absence of the 74-year-old Mr Zuma - who spent about a decade in the notorious Robben Island prison with Mr Kathrada - from the funeral can only be described as a snub.

Ahmed Kathrada was a simple man - that was the sense you got at his funeral. 

There was nothing lavish or grand in sight, just a tent filled with people from all walks of life here to show their love for Uncle Kathy, as he was affectionately known, one last time. 

While some of the country's top leaders were in attendance, there wasn't the usual special treatment for them that these sort of events have become known for. 

Instead there was great reverence for his widow and lifelong partner Barbara Hogan and the family. 

The sombre mood was then quickly overtaken by an unmistakable renewed energy to "speak truth to power". 

Speaker after speaker, invoking the values of the African National Congress which Mr Kathrada dearly loved, decried what they said was a state of moral decay, the culture of corruption and plundering within the Zuma-led government. 

Former President Kgalema Motlanthe, giving the eulogy, reminded those in attendance of a 2016 open letter to Mr Zuma in which Kathrada said: "I appeal to our president to submit to the will of the people and resign."

And while the people here are in mourning, there seems to be more vigour to protect the future of the country - and that is perhaps the most fitting tribute to Ahmed Kathrada's memory.

EPACopyright: EPA

While the focus in South Africa has been on the funeral of anti-apartheid hero Ahmed Kathrada this morning, the other big subject is the future of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

There have been rumours of his imminent removal following his recall from a foreign trip on Monday.

One journalist door-stepped Mr Gordhan at the funeral, asking him if he's confident that he'll still be in his job in the next few days.

"Are you confident that you're going to be in your job?" he shoots back.

Somali PM Hassan Ali Kheyre has won the support of parliament for his cabinet.

Some MPs had expressed misgivings about those appointed, but in the end the list of ministers was overwhelmingly endorsed.

Mourners at the funeral of South African anti-apartheid hero Ahmed Kathrada appear to be using it as a platform to express their views on the current state of politics.

The BBC's Pumza Fihlani is tweeting from the service in Johannesburg:

The embattled finance minister has also been welcomed enthusiastically:

There is a history of turning funerals and memorial services into political events in South Africa.

President Jacob Zuma was booed during the official memorial service for Nelson Mandela in 2013.

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Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should be arrested by Jordan and handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Amnesty International has said. 

Mr Bashir, who is wanted by the ICC for genocide and war crimes committed in Darfur, is in Jordan for an Arab League summit. 

Amnesty International said in a statement:  

Quote Message: As a signatory to the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, Jordan is obligated to arrest Omar Al-Bashir and hand him over to the court.

As a signatory to the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, Jordan is obligated to arrest Omar Al-Bashir and hand him over to the court.

Quote Message: Failure to arrest him would be a grave violation of the treaty and a betrayal of the hundreds of thousands of victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. The international community must not allow this to happen.”

Failure to arrest him would be a grave violation of the treaty and a betrayal of the hundreds of thousands of victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. The international community must not allow this to happen.”

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo tweeted this photo showing him at the summit, standing behind Mr Bashir and the king of Bahrain.

Previous calls for Mr Bashir to be arrested have been met with inaction. 

In 2015, South Africa's government snubbed an international arrest warrant and a court order , allowing the Sudanese president to fly out of the country where he was attending an African Union summit.  

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